The Death of Ananias

Jan Steen's treatment of the death of Ananias—the New Testament story of a man struck dead for deceiving the Apostles—is one of his more ambitious biblical compositions from around 1668. Steen approached narrative religious subjects with the same combination of theatrical staging and genre observation he brought to his secular scenes, populating apostolic crowds with faces and gestures drawn from everyday Dutch life. The falling Ananias, the startled onlookers, and the authoritative figure of Peter create a drama that is simultaneously scripture and genre painting.

A strong diagonal created by the collapsing figure of Ananias structures the composition. Steen uses a theatrical light source that illuminates the central figures while casting peripheral witnesses into warm shadow. The crowd is differentiated through varied facial expressions, showing Steen's skill at characterization.